Clips



R. G. BRIGHT June 2l, 1966 CLIPS Filed Feb. l0, 1965 IHHIHIHHIHHH3,256,577 CLIPS Robert Granville Bright, Leamington Spa, England,assignor to Draftex Limited, Coventry, England Filed Feb. 10, 1965, Ser.No. 431,502 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Sept. 15, 1964,37,581/64 2 Claims. (Cl. 24-81) This application is a continuation inpart of my United States patent application Serial No. 368,667, iiledMay 19, 1964.

This invention relates to clips -for use in the attachment of draughtexcluding or trimming and sealing strips .to a

. supporting flange, such clips being of substantially inverted U shapein cross-section and designed to straddle the supporting flange on whichthey are mounted, the clips lfrictionally gripping the flange either4directly or through the medium of the covering material.

The clip forming the subject of the present invention has certainfeatures in common with that forming the subject lof IU.S. patentapplication No. 368,6'67 tiled on May 19, 1964 in that it is producedfrom strip or sheet or sheet material which is slit transversely atspaced points, the material being stretched longitudinally afterslitting to open the slits and increase its effective length, theslitting process combined with the separation of the parts of the clipby stretching rendering the finished clip capable of universal bendingmovement.

The clip in accordance with the present invent-ion is produced from asomewhat wider blank than that used in constructing the clip previouslyproposed, the blank as previously being slit transversely Vat spacedpoints throughout its length, the slit-s extending across almost thefull width of the blank, the blank being yformed with additional slitsintermediate the first mentioned slits which extend from thelongitudinal edges of the blank inwardly towards the longitudinal centerline of the blank, the longitudinal edges of the blank being bent priorto or subsequent to the blank being bent transversely into substantiallyinverted U shape, inwardly and upwardly so that they grip directly orindirectly a supporting flange on which the clip is mounted.

The inwardly and upwardly bent parts form a spine or vertibrae including-a series of spaced tangs, the extremities of which lie substantiallymidway of the depth of the clip, the extremities lying on or near thelongitudinal bending axis of the clip.

The action of stretching the blank which may be done prior to orsubsequent to the blank being bent into substantially inverted U shapehas the efr'ect -of opening the slits, the second mentioned slitsassuming a narrow angle of V shape.

Consequently if the clip is bent in a plane containing the flange and ineither direction one set of slits tends to open and the other to closeand consequently if the blank has been stretched to open the slits the-requisite amount, the clip will be capable of bein-g bent to acomparatively small radius of curvature.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the blank from which the clip isformed;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of a part of the finished clip;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional perspective View of a trimming stripincorporating the clip; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a modified trimming stripincorporating the clip.

The clip may be constructed from any suitable material but it ispreferred to construct it from .a blank composed of carbon or mild steelor aluminum. The blank 1 shown AUnited States Patent O 3,256,577Patented June 21, 1966 ICC in FIGURE 1 is formed with longitudinallyspaced transverse slits 2 which extend across substantially the fullwidth of the strip and with intervening shorter slits 3 which extendinwa-rdly from the opposite longitudinal edges of the blank.

The blank shown is bent transversely into substantially inverted Ushape, the slit longitudinal edges of the blank being bent inwardly andupwardly into the interior of the clip as shown in FIGURE 3, theextremities of the longitudinal edges being preferably inwardly andupwardly inclined as at 4 in FIGURE 4, to engage a supporting -fiange onwhich the clip is mounted and to provide a lead to `facilitate pressingthe clip into position on the ange.

The blank is stretched longitudinally in any suitable way prior to orsubsequent to it being bent transversely, this stretching operationcausing the slits v2 to open as shown in FIGURE 2 and the slits 3 toassume a narrolw V shape. The apices of the V shaped slits preferablylie approximately midway of the depth of the clip, corresponding to the4clips neutral bending axis.

Consequently if the clip is bent in a vertical plane the slits onopposite sides of the neutral axis open and close respectively, thusenabling the clip to be bent around small radius curves.

The clip is likewise flexible when bent in a horizontal plane, the slits2 on one side of the longitudinal axis of the clip tending to open andthose on the opposite side tending to close.

In FIGURE 4 the clip is shown enclosed in a covering 5 of suitableflexible material so that it forms a trimming strip.

The covering 5 may consist of a woven or pile fabric, a rubber orthermo-plastic extrusion or -other suitable material the longitudinaledges 6 of the covering being turned inwardly and upwardly into theinterior :of the clip. As shown the longitudinal edges lie just belowthe parts 4, so that the latter engage the opposite sides of asupporting ilange directly, but it is within the scope of the inventionto extend the covering upwardly over the extremities of the parts 4 sothat the ange is gripped by the parts 4 indirectly through the coveringthereby holding the covering rmly in position upon the clip.

As a woven or pile covering is fairly expensive the covering may be -ofnarrower width and secured to a thin cheap material, the longitudinaledges of which extend upwardly into the clip.

The covering may be adhesively or otherwise secured to the clip but ifextruded from rubber or a thermo-plastic mouldable material it will beextruded to the form shown and consequently will be self-retaining inposition upon the clip.

Alternatively the plastic covering 5 may take the -form of a moulding orextrusion which encloses the clip, including the parts 4 and as shownclearly :in lFIGURE 5 fills up the space between the sides of the clipand the inwardly and upwardly turned edges.

If the strip is to be used for draught excluding or sealing purposes thecovering will carry or incorporate a resilient eective sealing portionwhich when compressed or deected by engagement with a door or -otherpart will provide a good seal.

I claim:

1. A clipfor the purpose specified comprising a length of sheet metal, arst group of lengthwisely spaced-apart slits extending transverselyacross substantially the entire 'width of said metal, said irst group ofslits terminating in end portions disposed in proximate spaced relationto the marginal edges of said sheet, a second group of intermediateslits interposed between the slits of said iirst group, the slits ofsaid second group projecting transversely inwardly from the oppositeside marginal edges of said metal, the slits of said second groupterminating in end portions outwardly located with respect to thelongitudinal center line of said metal, the metal being stretchedlengthwise to open the slits and increase the effective length of themetal, the metal being bent transversely into substantially inverted Ushape in cross-section, the longitudinal edges of the metal being turnedinwardly and upwardly into the interior of the clip, each of theterminal ends of the slits of both said groups being disposed, in saidbent configuration, in substantial alignment with a plane parallel tothe base of said U and intersecting the neutral bendingaxis of saidcl-ip.

2. A clip as claimed in claim 1, wherein the extremities of the inwardlyand upwardly turned edges yof the clip are inclined inwardly andupwardly to provide a lead and facilitate the clip being pressed intoposition upon a supporting ange, the spread terminal ends of the slitsof said second group augmenting the anchoring of said clip to a clipsupport.

Reifen-ences Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,772,2638/1930 Payne. 2,290,842 7/ 1942 Bush 296-445 2,746,103 5/1956 Bright20-69 3,165,793 1/1965 Lynch 20-69 FOREIGN PATENTS 735,241 8/ 1932France. 1,208,924 9/ 1959 France.

958,065 5/ 1964 Great Britain.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

D. GRIFFIN, Assistant Examiner.

1. A CLIP FOR THE PURPOSE SPECIFIED COMPRISING A LENGTH OF SHEET METAL,A FIRST GROUP OF LENGTHWISELY SPACED-APART SLITS EXTENDING TRANSVERSELYACROSS SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE WIDTH OF SAID METAL, SAID FIRST GROUP OFSLITS TERMINATING IN END PORTIONS DISPOSED IN PROXIMATE SPACED RELATIONTO THE MARGINAL EDGES OF SAID SHEET, A SECOND GROUP OF INTERMEDIATESLITS INTERPOSED BETWEEN THE SLITS OF SAID FIRST GROUP, THE SLITS OFSAID SECOND GROUP PROJECTING TRANSVERSELY INWARDLY FROM THE OPPOSITESIDE MARGINAL EDGES OF SAID METAL, THE SLITS OF SAID SECOND GROUPTERMINATING IN END PORTIONS OUTWARDLY LOCATED WITH RESPECT TO THELONGITUDINAL CENTER LINE OF SAID METAL, THE METAL BEING STRETCHEDLENGTHWISE TO OPEN THE SLITS AND INCREASE THE EFFECTIVE LENGHT OF THEMETAL, THE METAL BEING BENT TRANSVERSELY INTO SUBSTANTIALLY INVERTED USHAPED IN CROSS-SECTION, THE LONGITUDINAL EDGES OF THE METAL BEINGTURNED INWARDLY AND UPWARDLY INTO THE INTERIOR OF THE CLIP, EACH OF THETERMINAL ENDS OF THE SLITS OF BOTH SAID GROUPS BEING DISPOSED, IN SAIDBENT CONFIGURATION, IN SUBSTANTIAL ALIGNMENT WITH A PLANE PARALLEL TOTHE BASE OF SAID U AND INTERSECTING THE NEUTRAL BENDING AXIS OF AIDCLIP.